Mizuho invests in Iwate food maker

Mizuho Financial Group Inc. has invested several hundred million yen in a food maker in Iwate Prefecture through a fund designed to support the reconstruction of disaster-hit northeast Japan, industry sources said Wednesday.

The ¥6 billion Mizuho Tohoku Industry Development Fund, launched by Mizuho Financial Group’s Mizuho Bank and Mizuho Corporate Bank last August, purchased a bond issued Wednesday by Nakamuraya, a maker of processed seafood in the city of Kamaishi, logging its first investment.

Nakamuraya, which sells processed seafood on the Internet, has demonstrated steady performance while plagued by rising procurement costs caused by tsunami damage.

The food processing company plans to use the funds received from the Mizuho group to assist with procurement and other business operations.

The Mizuho fund earlier decided to invest ¥1 billion in Joban Kosan Co., which runs Spa Resort Hawaiians in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, the facility that served as the setting for the movie “Hula Girls.”

The fund will acquire preferred shares that Joban Kosan plans to issue at the end of the month.